The Dragon Queens Codex
by Mystborn
Summary: A companion Codex that is intended to clear up ranks, ship sizes, political structures and anything else I can think of in the Empire Nirn.
1. Military and time

A/N

so I realised that whilst I have all the logistics planned out in my head, you guys can't see it so I'm building this codex to make for a little less explaining to interrupt the flow of the story. Also I do not have a head for numbers... The population is so high because of how long the've been at this and also because several race *Cough cough Dragons and Vampire Cough cough* refuse to die... So please help me keep the populations but bring the appropriate system, legion and ship/ navy numbers up to match them... thanks k here I try again, Many thanks to Indecisive Bob for the help with the numbers

**Chapter 1**

Time. The queens looked through the history books and were, to put it politely appalled at the inconsistent time keeping, the first era had 30 centuries and following eras differ between 5-9 centuries. So they standardized the era system, keeping the old eras the same and the days and months the same. But they called an end to the fourth era making it the shortest one on record and with the beginning of the fifth standardized the whole system making one era last five hundred years or 6 centuries. so the current date for the 314 incident began with the invasion starting on Tirdas, 12, First Seed, 423, 5C, 8E formal dating lists the century as part of an old tradition and also because the first century of an era is from 0-100s the 2nd century is 100-200 third is 2-3 etc.

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First space flight occurred 9 Frostfall, 382, 4C, 6E and the Aether drive was developed in 457, 5C, 6E so the Nirnians have been in space for 1,041 years. they've had time to really perfect their craft.

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It takes 500 Nirnian years for a planets latent magica to be awakened. This requires 500 years of magic being used constantly on that planet before it develops ambient magica enough to not need a magica container to be shipped. Only 4 worlds beside Nirn now have ambient magica.

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The lifespans of men have increased from 100 years to 150-220 there is only so much magic can do. Among the Mer life spans have not really changed, with an Altmer living 5-600 years and the shortest lived the Orsimer living 3-350 years the other Mer (and giants) living some where within those two numbers. Beast folk now instead of living short 50-60 years now enjoy lifespans of 100-180 years. Vampires and dragons and the queens being exempt from those rules as they are imortal. Momer don't exist as again, don't know enough about them to do them justice

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**Numbers**

There are approximately 36 trillion (36,000,000,000,000) black souls in the empire. and they own 2,346 systems most of which have habitable planets as well as several thousand stations, asteroid colonies and moon colonies. Some world have a higher population due to the time they were founded and what their purpose is. i.e. agriculture manufacture academia or military. Also keep in mind that the Empire is not limited to the relay system and there fore can find more habitable systems rather the 1% the council has going, so they have a higher population density, and they've been at it you a millennia, and some species are immortal.

the military is neatly divided into units of ten because I want it that way. And it is based off f the old empire units

the empire has at it's disposal 18,000 legions

1 legion =10,000 legionaries led by the Legate

there are 10 cohorts per legion each with 1000 legionnaires led by a Prefect

there are 10 centuries per cohort each with 100 legionnaires led by the Centurion

there are 10 Decem per century each with ten men led by a Decanus

the Cohorts are split into two groups of 5 each led by a Tribune

the cohort is divided into 2 groups of 5 centuries ruled by the Primus

the century is divided into 2 groups of 5 decems led by the Quintar

the Decem is divided into two groups of 5 men called a Prolus and led by the Antem

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**Military**

so the Hierarchy is as follows:

Legate-10,000 men, 1 legion or 10 Cohorts

Tribune-5,000 men, 5 Cohorts

Prefect-1,000 men, 10 centuries

Primus-500 men, 5 centuries

Centurion-100 men, or 10 Decems

Quintar-50 men, 5 Decems

Decanus-10 men, 2 Prolus

Antem-5 men, 1 Prolus

Legionnaire-1

Auxiliar-1

This allows the army to be swiftly broken up and reassembled as quickly as possible. making it possible to go from a massive rank and file army to small strike forces almost instantly. Attached to the Legion is the Auxiliary, they are the trainees, you spend 5 years as an Auxiliary before being promoted to legionnaire so that way your lowest ranking foot solder is a veteran and can truly be an asset to the army. Each legion has and larger number of Auxiliary troops following the same command structure as the true legion and can be folded into the army no problem though a legionnaire outranks an Auxiliar.

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In the legion your Prolus is your battle team. In the old days they were your tent mates and you shield-siblings. In modern times you bunk with your Prolus, eat with them, train with them and in all ways work together. In training if one member of your Prolus fails then you all fail. It strengthens the mentality of being only as strong as the weakest member, leading to all striving not to let their Prolus down. The Legionaires motto is this : With out my Empire I am Leaderless. Without my legion I am purposeless. Without my cohort I am anchorless. Without my Century I am lost. without my Decem I am voiceless. Without my Prolus I am dead.

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The oath each legionair swears is this: My empire is my purpose, my legion is my life. Never shall I be parted from them. I am their shield as they are mine, I am their sword, arrow and spell as they are mine. To the death and beyond shall we serve and defend our Empire and our people. with the Gods as my Witness I shall not falter and I shall not break. I shall stare into the jaws of death and horror to defend the innocent. With the blood on my hands I purchase their right to peace and their innocence, I kill so they do not need to. Should death take me I will still uphold this vow. Until The Queens release me from this service, so shall I perform my duty.

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in the legion different centuries have different specializations so in the old legion you can expect:

1 century of artillery/ engineers

1 century of infiltrators or rogues

2 centuries of mages/ ranged

6 centuries of foot solders

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but with the advent of space the basic structure was changed so that 1 Prolus contained:

1 engineer

1 battle mage/healer

1 archer/rogue

2 warriors (swords and guns)

this made the Prolus a far more effective and versatile battle group able to adapt as the situation demands when they are ordered to form up into their legion though they various specialties become battle groups to better maintain unit cohesion. The Turians were actually fighting the Nirnian Prolus and Decems who were able to form up into their legions at the drop of a hat the moment Williams gave the call.

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**Navy**

on a ship the hierarchy is:

Captain-1

Commander-2

Lieutenant Commander-4

lieutenant-6

junior lieutenant-8

ensign-10

crewman anywhere from 10-9,000 not including legions stationed onboard the larger ships

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With the higher command structure being the same for navy and army with the captain and legate being of equal rank

General

Commodore

Rear Admiral

Vice Admiral

Admiral

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Praetor (supreme commander to the Queens) there are 2 one for army and the other for navy

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Special opps being the Nightingales or the Ns with there being seven levels and the N7s being the elite forces in the empire. they have a 93% drop out rate, but there is no shame as being chosen to become a Nightingale of any level is extremely prestigious. The true Nightingales, the warriors of Nocturnal still exist, the current three are Ayrenn, an Argonian named Nods-at-trees (he refuses to say how he got that name) and a Breton named Celia Kamros

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In the legal system it's based off of the old Altmer system using a system of classes to denote position

Justicar First Class- High ranking federal agent

Justicar Second Class- middle ranking federal agent

Justicar Third Class- lower ranking federal agent

Inquisitor First class- detective

Inquisitor Second Class- investigator

Inquisitor Third Class- officer

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The Eyes of the Queens- Intelligence agents

The Blades of the Queens- Personal guard of the Queens, like the ancient Roman Praetorian Guard

The Voice of the Queens- Ambassadors and diplomats, they speak for the Queens if need be.

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I hope this clears up everything. If you don't understand something or have questions ask and I will do my best to clarify.


	2. Ships and Vehicals

**Chapter 2- Vehicles and ships**

Imperial space is divided into 13 sectors. Each sector has its own fleet that in turn is divided up into smaller fleets to patrol their assigned area.

Each sector fleet is roughly 83,000 ships. Divided into 20 fleets of 4,150 ships each with 10 sub fleets of 415 ships and each with 5 battle groups of 83.

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Ship classes are as follows:

**Heavy ship classes**

**Carrier- 7 Km:** exactly what it sounds like, can carry 6 legions, thousands of fighters and vehicles etc. 10 of these ships can lay siege to a system. Slow and heavily armoured they have few weapons save for those used in point defensives. This is a support ship.

**Destroyer- 6km:** Only a few of these are currently in service, one of those being the Flagship of the fleet. The balance point between the Super dreadnaught and the carrier it is a relatively new class of ship and loving termed a CALD ship or Capable of Alduinian Levels of Destruction. The empire is now aiming to make more of these

**Super Dreadnaught- 4km:** the heavy hitter of the Imperial navy this ship is meant to smash through anything and everything that stands in its way. Thick armour plating is augmented by shields and much of the ships interior is devoted to power systems with a stupid number of redundancies. This ship is advertised to be able to ram its way through most other ships. Though not capable of doing this repeatedly it can ram another ship if necessary and is one of the slower ships in the Navy.

**Dreadnaught- 2km**: smaller on the scale compared to its elder brothers this is a slightly faster and more agile version of the super dreadnaught. More designed as a sniper it has longer range but lower shields when compared with the bigger classes.

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**Light Ship classes**

**Cruiser- 1km**: these ships along with the Corvette and the Frigate are the main backbone of the Imperial navy. A balanced fighter it focuses of being a long to midrange skirmisher. Much like the sword, shield combo when compared to the dual handed or ranged heavier classes.

**Frigate- 500-800 m**: the dual wielder of the fleet this ship is meant to engage in mid to close range, with large shields and nasty weaponry but does not do well when pitted against foes at long range. Usually carries boarding parties.

**Corvette- 300-450m**: the knife fighter. This ship is fast, agile and packs a nasty punch. Designed to get in close and to deal damage while keeping out of the line of fire it has the most advanced plane jumping capabilities, able to perform micro jumps in a matter of seconds it opens the way for the Frigate to launch boarding craft.

**Slaughterfish Boarding craft- 50m**: troop transport, fired with boarders it larches onto the hull before burning through the armour to release the legionnaires onto the ship. Mostly called Slaughterfish because of their nasty "bite".

**Hunter- 20-30m**: five man fighter craft, these usually act as escorts and heavy hitters among fighter swarms

**Dartwing Fighter- 15m**: slim, sleek, fast, agile. These ships are the fighters of the fleet. Usually moving in swarms they are as impossible to hit as the bloody hawk in Solitude. A one man fighter these guys are pretty nasty once they get going and they are usually deployed by the thousand. Also used as an aerial scout craft they can cloak for brief amounts of time.

**Shuttle AKA Netch**\- 20-40m a basic shuttle that comes in various sizes. Used to ferry people between ships and from ship to planet. Is also used as a planetary transport though teleportation is more common public transport. (doesn't work for between planets or from planet to ship. Has a distance restriction.) the nickname Netch comes from their size.

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Fleets will combine these ships as needed depending on what they are being sent to do. Though they usually have at least one carrier and her attending dreadnaughts, and smaller classes. The fighter is the core of the fighting ideal. Get in close, hit them where it hurts, and dodge the blows; a test of skill.

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**Ground Vehicles**

**Dagon main battle tank**\- Big, loud this is a ground CALD vehicle. Named after the deadric prince of destruction for a reason. They are death on treads.

**Durzog runner**\- similar to the Halo warthog, these wheeled jeeps are fast and armed, usually moved in packs they carry either a machine gun or a missile launcher. Can carry 4.

**Masked Controlled artillery AKA Mudcrab**\- slow, lumbering and terrifying as hell, these are similar to Geth armatures or colossus. Basically a really big gun with legs, this is a remote controlled weapon. If seen run like hell.

**Saber ground scout vehicle**\- a ghost and speeder love child. Quiet, fast, cloakable hovercraft but with little in the way of armour or weapons, simple ice spike and lightning. A get in get out vehicle. You will not see it, but it will see you. Favored by assassins, thieves and Nightingales.

**Mammoth Troop transport**\- Exactly what it sounds like: A big armoured vehicle that can move troops, carries up to 20.

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**Animals**

The uses of animals in the Nirnian empire is still common, among them are the uses of armoured trolls, gargoyles, death hounds, etc. all with the appropriate upgrades in armour to make them still effective.

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A/N Hope these help. It took a lot of time and a great deal of help from Indecisive Bob to flush out the details. Enjoy!

Cheers! Mystborn

Coming soon: Armoured frost troll vs Krogan Mercenary! Stay tuned!


	3. Weapons and Armour

**Chapter 3**

**Weapons**

**History:**

Fire arms in the Empire are not exactly fire arms. More Ice arms, the basic idea comes from the ice spike spell. In 271, 3C, 5E the college of Winterhold developed the Stalrim Spike spell. Originally the spike was the same size as the original spike used for centuries. Unfortunately it was a master level destruction spell and absorbed stupid amounts of mana to create so it was not very viable option unless done by a Master of Destruction.

* * *

Three decades later after in 301, 4C, 5E a group of Scholars from the Enclave of Magi in High rock presented the first rechargeable soul gem, also known as mana gems. These were similar to soul gems but could be recharged by essentially casting a healing hands spell on the gem. It would absorb the incoming magic and transfer it back into raw mana that could then be used as a soul gem. This revolutionized the school of enchanting, now weapons would have a mana gem installed and allow for recharging of enchantments without the need to use the power of a soul.

* * *

313, 4C, 5E lead to a shift in the use of staffs. Multiple runes and enchantments lead to staffs being able to fire more than one kind of projectile. Or more commonly an ice spike spell chained to a telekinetic push enchantment, speeding up the spike but also adding a recoil to the staff, lowering accuracy.

* * *

314, 4C, 5E an enchanter from New Orsinium crafted a new more efficient form of staff, Now day would recognize it as a musket analogue. The wooden staff was altered to be braced against the shoulder, allowing for greater accuracy, the enchantment would be activated by the pressing of a rune to activate, and mana gems were used to fuel them, leading to the idea of a clip.

* * *

372, 4C,5E Heralded the invention of the Aether gem a deep green gem with an internal structure that can open or close off a connection to the aether. Instead of transforming cast magic into mana it was open to the power of the aether, the source of magic. The effect on the Aether gem on the staffs was not positive, the wood was not designed to handle that much power, so through trial and error the spiker was born. The original five and a half foot long staff as reduced and the power of the push enchantments increased, the ice spike was replaced with a Stalrim spike and the wooden frame was exchanged for a composite of corundum and moonstone. Since then little has changed in the realm of ice arms save for the size of the spike being shot, they were reduced from arm long spears of ice to thumbnail sized shards. Soldiers will often mod their weapons with other enchantments that can add burn or lightning damage. The barrel is usually carved to look like the head of a dragon, harkening back to its origins as a staff and a fireball mod used in place of grenades.

* * *

**Handheld guns:**

These are the guns currently in use by the Imperial armed forces:

**Yein IV Assault rifle:**

This is the standard assault rifle, same size as a citadel rifle it has and array of sixty Stalrim runes that are fired in sequence at a fifteen revolutions a minute. Therefore a firing rate of nine hundred rounds a minute. The range of this rifle 350-400 meters it is a midrange weapon with "bullets" traveling at 300m/s. Often moded by soldiers with fire enchantments that coat the non-melting ice in a sheet of flame to burn through the armour, or more recently with shock to overload armour systems, a gun can hold two shot mods and one performance mod. The gem can fire 94 shots before opening briefly to the aether to recharge, this takes four seconds. Made of Orichalcum, corundum and moonstone alloy, it is a light weight workhorse weapon with a weight of 9.5 LB

**Iiz Strum IX Shotgun**

Again, standard shotgun, it has a larger barrel than the Yein, this allows for several runes to fire at once causing a shrapnel effect, the distance is reduced as the push runes effect is spread over more items. This gun has a "clip" of seven shots before it needs to recharge, takes 4 seconds, has an effective range of 37-45 meters. Same basic mods apply to this gun like the Yein. Made of Orichalcum, corundum and moonstone alloy.

**Yol Strum X Energy shotgun**

Direct energy weapons are also used, though not as good for long range as a Stalrim shot it takes pure mana and though the application of the runes: contain, pressure, burn and harm is translated into bolts of superheated energy that it then propelled using a push enchantments. Once the bolt leaves the barrel it leave the containment and pressure runes, this leads to the energy expanding outward, cooling and dissipating. Devastating at close range the energy shots are similar to the Krogan shotgun. Made of Ebony, Quicksilver and Dwemer metal alloy, this is a Nightingale grade weapon.

**Kinz XX Pistol**

Same basic specs as its citadel counterpart it has a basic shot count of 27, is a close range weapon. Made of Orichalcum, corundum and moonstone alloy.

**Zuth IX Sniper**

The sniper of the legion is a long barreled weapon that is lined with densely packed push runes in a spiral pattern along the barrel and a larger spike. A rotating cluster of four runes can shoot nine spikes before recharging. Most of the energy in the gun is going to the push enchantments to accelerate the spike to speed rivaling and even surpassing those using mass effect technology.

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**Armour**

**History:**

In Shape and form armour has made only a few changes over the centuries. The main addition was with the under armour body suit. With the invention of synthetic fibers the body suit was at first a simple body suit made of a substance called oak weave. This was made of a flexible polymer that is then enchanted for added strength, comfort and adaptability, air tight and strong, without the added armour it has become the standard environment suit, with its own temperature controls that allow the wearer to survive harsh environments. As the Arcane tech became better so too did the under armour. With varying grades for strength many would argue that the under armour is what made the legion so strong. Both the under armour and the outer armour are sealed units with the outer armour attached to the under armour by use of vacuum and latches, making it a suit over a suit. Redundancy saves lives is their standard. The under suit connects to the actual armour which contains its own aether gem that powers the armour's wards which are connected to a proximity ward. This detects items moving at speed towards the armour and increases power to the wards, activating them milliseconds before the blow and sustaining until either the onslaught stops or the gem is drained and needs to open and recharge. The basic helm is shaped like an ancient steel plate helmet but the wings are replaced with a small metal crest similar to the Dwemer helm. The officers are given coloured horse hair crest to denote them.

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**Under Armour (aka skin armour)**

Air tight and made of an enchanted weave polymer it is comprised of several layers that have specific runes for healing that can deliver a localized burst of restoration to a wound. The under armour is usually black or grey with a small pack five cm by five cms and three high on the back between the shoulder blades, this houses the under suits Aether gem, usually low powered. Is iconic for the visible energy lines that pulse with the wearer's heat rate (think Star craft ghost suit) the suit not only covers the body but also has a hood that can be deployed from the suit to cover the head, a face mask seals to the hood making it the ideal environment suit. The hood contains a basic HUD that takes info from the under suit and armour and showing it to the user, measuring ward strength, power levels, a basic compass along the top, personal mana levels, ammo count and com signals. The visor is usually only over the eyes, not full faced, to reduce the risk of shattering. The grade of weave are as follows from weakest to strongest:

· Oak-civilians

· Iron-civilians

· Steel-civilians

· Quicksilver-civilians

· Moonstone-civilians

· Corundum- Guards/Justicars

· Malachite- Soldiers

· Dwemer-stealth units

· Ebony- Nightingales, blades, eyes

· Daedric- for the skalds

· Dragon- reserved for the queens and the other monarchs

The following armours use Malachite grade under armour

**Angaar V Heavy armour**

Looks like the lovechild of ancient glass armour and Dwemer armour it is usually gold in colour with either green or red cloth accents according to preference. The eye slits are connected to the under armour hood, making it one of the weaknesses to penetrate both suits simultaneously. Usually given to the heavy hitters. The two handed specialists and the juggernaut class use this

**Haar VI Medium armour**

Similar in pattern to the heavy armour, the plates are thinner and lighter allowing for greater movement but sacrificing safety. This armour is given to the sword and shield users as well as the dual wielders. Archers, and most spell swords.

**Vokun III stealth armour**

The lightest in terms of armour, this armour has small plates to cover the essential areas but leave much of the under armour exposed. This armour is designed to allow free movement needed for rogues, thieves and assassins. It sacrifices protection for agility. Typically wearers of this variety have a higher grade of under armour, usually Dwemer grade, more expensive but worth it.

**Verin VIII mage armour**

This is a combination of master mage robes over the under armour with an added cuirass, graves, shoulder guards and gauntlets. Very similar to Ancient carved Nordic armour without the bear motifs. This is in between the stealth and medium armour, making it in the light category. Used by mages and some spell swords.

**Vahlok police armour**

Built to resemble Stalrim armour it uses a corundum grade under suit with a crestless helmet similar to ancient Skyrim guard helm. This has a lower power levels, congruent with C-sec grade armour.

**Nightingale armour**

Shaped like ancient ebony armour it is divided into the same categories of Heavy, Medium, Mage and stealth using ebony grade under armour and an ebony malachite, quicksilver, Dwemer alloy. A nightingale is denoted by a letter N followed by their level on the right breast and the coloured stripe down the right arm that denotes their Prolus.

**Skald Armour**

With dragon grade under armour and Armour so heavily enchanted as to be nigh on unstoppable, the Skalds are the Spartans of the empire. Each set of armour is heavy but flexible, and enchanted to Sovahngard and back. Older models have a minor machine spirit (Nirnian VI) melded with the armour. But new developments have been looking into connecting the armour to the wearer on a mental level as well as merging in a greater machine spirit to boost efficiency. As this is experimental it is a volunteer only option at the moment. Current volunteers include Skald Lieutenant Commander Cortana Shepard.

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**A/N **Hello Everyone! Hope you enjoy. I've had the idea of the under armour in my head for a while. I like the idea of armour within armour. It's more of a precaution so that in cases where a soldiers spaced and the outer suit is punctured then they can still survive *cough cough Shepard Cough cough* the under armour is skin tight and whilst it is not as strong as the usual armour it can take a beating Also when off duty on a ship the wear that, it never comes off allowing for a ships atmosphere to be vented and not kill the crew. I also like the idea of an AI in Shepard's armour chatting at her as she doing a mission. I like halo don't judge.

I imagin that it would sound like this:

AI-"Shepard DUCK!"

Shep-"I know Shut up"

AI-"rocket launcher!"

Shep- "I see it!"

AI- "left, left, LEFT LEFT, LEFT, LEFT!"

Shep- "I SEE IT!"

I'm opening up a poll for whether or not to put the AI in her armour and If yes then what should it's name gender and avatar be? EDI is going to be running her ship so she needs one for her armour.

Cheers! Mystborn!


End file.
